Book Review - It by Stephen King

Title: It
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror
Published: 1986
 
Description: Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a pace as hauntingly familiar as your hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real…
 
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.
 
Review: Of all the books I read by Stephen King, I can surely tell that “It” has left the biggest impression on me. It’s one of the scariest books I have ever read.
 
Seven teenagers, living in Derry, Maine, all face their biggest fears and it still haunts them as adults, when all but one has left Derry. When, after 27 years, that thing they feared the most is back, they all return to Derry to face it once again.
 
The book has two timelines that run together, they intertwine; When they were teenagers and that of them as adults. And there is no other author that can flesh out a character as well as Stephen King. Seven characters actually. Seven characters you get to know so well, you come to love, you understand, you sympathize with. Each character gets King’s personal attention, he put so much effort into all of them.
 
Most of Stephen King’s books are slow paced, because he takes his time to describe everything and everyone in extreme detail. And to be honest, King’s books are the only ones I can really appreciate it from, because slower paced books or slow burns are not my favorite. But because King’s storytelling qualities are of such a high level, it doesn’t bother me.  
 
“It” is first and foremost a horror novel, but it is also a coming-of-age story. Childhood fears, friendships, losing innocence, learning about the cruel world, growing into adulthood. These are themes that the book revolves around. And that are also recurring themes in King’s other books.
 
There is this one particular scene in the book, very disturbing given the age of the seven kids, that even Stephen King knew would never make it to the screen. And it didn’t, not in the mini-series nor in the two-parter directed by Andy Muschietti. Which is understandable. This scene seems an extraordinarily strange scene. But given the theme of the book, it entirely fits. With this, Beverly forges together the blood bond they agree on as children. I’m not going to spoil this scene, but if you know, you know.
 
“It” is a very long book, but also a perfect one. I never really could say what my favorite Stephen King was, of the ones that I’d read. But “It” is that book now.
 
Rating: 5/ 5